Olympia-Based GAEA Wins Two Awards at 2023 NYIOOC

Greek producer GAEA has won two awards at the 2023 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, the world's largest olive oil quality contest.

We celebrated with tears of joy as it really is more than just a pat on the shoulder.

Harry Lalousis, marketing manager

Based in Agrinio, Aitoloakarnania, the company earned a Gold Award for its GAEA Fresh brand, a medium-intensity Olympia, and a Silver Award for its GAEA Planet Organic brand, an organic medium Athinolia. Both brands were also awarded in 2022.

"The effort that goes into delivering an extra virgin olive oil high in polyphenols to our customers is more than paid off by receiving such a prestigious award," marketing manager Harry Lalousis. "We celebrated with tears of joy as it really is more than just a pat on the shoulder."

In the 2022/23 crop year, GAEA produced 1,200 tons of extra virgin olive oil using traditional methods.

"When harvesting with traditional methods, every harvest has its challenges," Lalousis said. "This year's challenge, in particular, was finding the manpower to collect the olives from the trees; we overcame this by arranging olive-picking events for our teams and partners."

The NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition held each spring in New York, is the world's most prestigious olive oil contest. Its annual listing of award winners is considered the authoritative guide to the year’s best extra virgin olive oils.

The complete list of winners can be viewed in the Official Guide to the World's Best Olive Oils.